Hot Spot Flies with Bernie Peet

Every year, I can always count on Bernie Peet to do a fly tying presentation. I think this may have been the 10th year Bernie has spent an evening with our club sharing some great fly tying techniques and ideas. Bernie's theme tonight was hot spot flies. The presentation was very well thought out. We tied flies with a hot spot tag, two hot spot thoraxes and finally a hot spot rib! I know I will use all 4 patterns that we tied tonight. It is so refreshing to have such a diversity of fly tying skills within our club! Bernie's British background that includes so many different fly fishing experiences allows our group to embrace these different perspectives and apply them to our fly fishing adventures!

...some thoughts from Bernie on Hot Spot Flies

Sometimes, the addition of a brightly coloured “hot spot”, which could be a tag, rib or thorax, can make a huge difference to the effectiveness of an otherwise drab fly.  Whether this makes flies more noticeable under lower light conditions, or whether a bright colour triggers an aggressive response is open to question.  However, experience suggests that, under certain conditions, hot-spot flies do work well, both in rivers and in still water.  Nymphs and wet flies can benefit from a “hot spot”, using colours such as fluorescent green, chartreuse, orange, red or white, in addition to pearlescent materials.  It’s worth tying flies with varying degrees of “flash” because sometimes an over-flashy fly will put fish off whereas the same fly, but a bit less bright, will give results.

Next week the theme is chernobyls. Steve Leuthi and Bob Vanderwater will share photos from a cool backcountry fly fishing trip in Banff National Park. We will then tie some chernobyls. It will definitely be a fun evening!

We still have a few spots left for the all day fly tying workshop with Phil Rowley on Saturday February 2nd. Check out the poster in the margine for all the details. It will be an awesome day of fly tying!

Remember that Pub Night is Friday February 1st starting at 7 pm at Tiffany's Restaurant. We will be in the pub!

Pepper’s Lake Special (Bernie Peet design)

Many years ago, after a frustrating few hours casting at rising fish at Pepper’s Lake, I fished this fly on a clear intermediate line and caught one fish after another. Each time I fished at Pepper’s this fly was successful when many other patterns failed to score.

Hook:  Size 10 – 14 curved

Bead: Copper or gold, 7/64th

Tag: Fluorescent orange thread or floss (can be coated in UV resin)

Rib:  Copper wire

Body:  Pheasant tail

Hackle: Reddish brown cock or hen

Hotspot Black and Peacock

A combination of a black fly with a fluorescent green tag or thorax seems to work well in many situations. This pattern can also be tied with a bead head or with some lead wire under the thorax.

Hook: Size 12 – 14,  2x nymph

Thread: Black

Tail: Black cock fibres

Rib: Silver or gold wire

Body:  Peacock herl

Thorax: Fluorescent green thread or floss, coated in UV resin

Thorax cover:  Black pheasant tail

Hackle: Black cock fibres, tied separately on each side of the head

Okey Dokey Buzzer (Makflies, YouTube)

This style of brightly coloured chironomid, which bears no resemblance to anything natural, is very popular in the UK and is tied with the head in a variety of bright colours such as chartreuse, orange and pink. The profile is thicker than one would normally use for a chironomid pattern.

Hook: Size 12 – 16, chironomid

Body: White fluorescent thread or floss

Rib: Silver blue or light blue coloured copper wire (or silver/gold) – tied with 2 – 3 touching turns at the bend of the hook

Head: Fluorescent green thread or floss

Finish: Coat whole fly with brushable UV resin

Red and Gold Diawl

The Diawl Bach, Welsh for “Little Devil” is a popular British fly that has spawned hundreds of variations.  It is used as a dropper fly and fished static or very slowly, imitating a range of aquatic insects such as chironomids and even small fry.  This particular pattern was described by Rob Denson in January’s “Trout and Salmon” magazine and combines a small amount of gold flash in the dubbing with a holographic red rib.

Hook: Size 10 – 14, 1x nymph

Thread:  Red

Tail:  Ginger cock

Rib:  Red holographic

Body:  Squirrel and hare’s ear mixed 50:50 with a pinch of gold Ice Dub

Throat hackle:  Ginger cock